SECONDIMPACT
by NagafenOfIvalice
Summary: A boy's obessesion with the fantasy worlds of games and anime, as well as his alienation from reality leads into an odd adventure. His journey will leave his mind reeling at the consequence of playing god with his fantasys.
1. PRELUDE TO AWAKENING: BIRTH BY SLEEP

PRELUDE TO AWAKENING – BIRTH BY SLEEP

He was here again.

He could feel... no, he CAN feel it... the here and now, ever present, running through him…

He was … is… I this place… his place…..

His world.

This is… was… no… no, no is… _why can't… I… hel….help…_

This is…. His place… his place he returns to every night…. His home of…. Of…

_Why…_

His home… this is... is where he was happy… where he felt that warm feeling…. Where he should be feeling… that warm feeling….

Yet… he could feel it… it was slowly covered … by a blanket of cold….

A pain like a shard of ice was thrust into his brain…. He... was losing the... the…. _I can't …. No, NO… Mum, Dad….. No, I……. I….. WHY CAN'T I…..THINK……?_

His mind was… IS… drifting….the pain threatening to slam him back into a sea of darkness, an everlasting void of nothing….. He could feel it… fading away… _No….. I can't go….not… not yet…. Need to hold on... for… for…_

_Her._

A light… ever so tiny… flickers… then, how, next…. In front of him, lighting a path…. He needed to live for… someone... he didn't know… couldn't' remember…. But he knew….. He knew…. Her… from beyond…. His understanding….

The light grew.

He felt the pain subside…. The ice retreat... to a dull lump in his head… ever ready… but he needed to focus... Stop living then… and start living in the… now… now…

Now.

His vision snaps into focus. He gets up _when did he fall? _And observes his surroundings.

He's notices he's in a cavern. He sees that it, little more then the size of an average corridor, albeit twisted and contoured, is ice. He panics and feels his head, but finds that it was a pain in his head, mental not physical that has been hampering him _what… was… that_?

However, an unusual effect purveys the ice, and his curiosity is aroused…. He notices _how is that possible? _The ice has an eerie outline of red to it, and the whole ice seems to slightly… pulsate with this infused glow _like its alive…_

He moves along slightly, keeping his hand moving along the walls to keep his balance… and then jumps back after feeling something strange to the touch.

It isn't just a glow that was pulsating across the ice… it was the ice itself… _beating up and down in rhythm… just like a … heart…_ He nearly gagged, and the lump of ice stirred slightly, aroused by his discomfort...

_NO! Think of... her… _

The ice subsides again.

He forces himself up, against his own better judgement... to move on, staggering through the cavern, on and on…. He bumps against the ice, causing shivers to run through his head, his brain, his spine…. He can't go on... He can't… Can't… Can't yet he must… he knows… that the girl… the girl he can't remember… will fall…

Save her… he must… save….. HER….

He forces himself on… his mind is trailing again, the ice building…. But as he continues through what seem like unending corridors, he finds the heat increasing… and yet so does the ice…. Cold and Heat, existing next to one another _How is this possible? _In unison, rising… as he get's closer, another… sound this time…. The grinding of metal…. The striking of glass….. He can feel it... her… HER!! She nears…. It…. Coming…

_I've…_

IT

_Found _

IS

_You_

COMING

He fell…. Stumbled forward…… Shutting his eyes against the impact against the stony ice below….He knew the outcome already…. Knew its inevitable conclusion… _NO! STOP IT!_

_I can save her... I CAN SAVE HER! I CAN SAVE THEM ALL!_

He forces himself to open his eyes…. And views a strange scene….

He is no longer in a tunnel…. It looks like a massive cavern, almost perfectly spherical, like a something that was built, not fashioned. He looks in awe…. Then he turns his head earthward… and observes a site that almost puts that above him to shame.

In front of him is… in this case, was… a humanoid shape. At least it used to be. It was … is that… it looks massive… almost like it's a building….. It takes up at least a quarter of the cavern….

It's orange in colour, this shade alighting off its body…. It has what looks like a helmet shaped head… with but one eye, gray to initiate it was shut down, when it should normally be red _How do I know that?_ He shakes his head, putting aside his tension, and looks for something, someone, why does he know? He can't think… Ice... Falling…. It…. Everything… fall... Down… Pain welling up…. Everything turning…. _To……. Late… I can't… remember… any……Close my eyes… it'll... all be fine.._

**You**

……_I…_

**Get up**

_Is that … you…?_

**I remember you**

_Why can't…. I ever…. Find you…._

**What do you mean?**

_I searched for you….. Everywhere…_

**Why?**

_Because…._

…**.**

_I… can't find… my reason… why…_

…**.**

_I just… wanted to see you again…_

**I'm right here.**

_How… can… can…_

**All you have to do is open your eyes**

_Why…?_

**Please... for all of us… just**

**OPEN YOUR EYES**

…_..I…._

**OPEN YOUR EYES**

He opens them.

And he sees her.

She crawls along the floor, holding in one hand a canister, the lid slightly dented in. She her self was … was… is… _No... SHE WILL LIVE…_

She has pale blue hair, the colour of the sea that you imagined, that cuts short just at her neck. It should have two clips towards the top of the cranium. However, the hair was untidy, and one of the clips was missing. Sticky red liquid trickles from where one of them should have been… He feels nothing…. Not even a reflex gag….

She wears a jumpsuit… or bodysuit, that would be more accurate… that's usually a tone of white and black, with shoulder stripes of orange-red. However, rips and tears line the suit, revealing small sections of pallid skin, and cuts that are both dry and cracked where the skin is beginning to seal, or shiny, ruby red with recent injury. He notices that she hides her left arm behind her, and wonders why…. He looks and see's a trail of red line back to the strange mechanical being in the cavern… the trail he can faintly see even goes up the being, specks of red blending sickeningly with orange. It leads to the back of the being… however, his eyes draw to where it's left arm should be… to…

He is thrown out of his stupor, and feels the world close in again. Again... again…

_Why did that….. How could you… let it…?_

**DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES**

He saw... see's her lips move, see's her eye's focus on him….. Keeping her left arm hidden….

He implores her _why? Why can't I rest? Why can't I just shut my eyes…. And let the noise go away?_

But she holds his gaze, holds it… he see's her mouth open… and although he can't seem to make out the words, they come to him, as clear as an eclipse, her voice overriding his fear….

**YOU CAN'T! YOU PROMISED US ALL YOU WOULD FACE THIS!**

**AND I PROMISED YOU WE WOULD FACE IT TOGETHER!**

….._I…_

A sound stirs. Not the same as the girl's voice, demanding yet strength lending, but altogether more foreboding. The ice cracks, the heat intensifies, the cavern rumbles….

He grits his teeth, the heat scalding, the sound rocking him to the core…

The sound of death…

His death…

Everyone's death…..

In this moment of realisation, the situation, the meaningless death that seeks to overtake him and her weaves a tale of woe in front of his eyes, and he succumbs to his nightmare, wondering on his role, finding his voice only to use it in a fit of fuelled fury and sadness. Blended together, they create desperation for understanding he vents to the only person who listens.

_Why?!? Why me?!?! WHY DID YOU PICK ME?!? Is this a joke?!?! Why does THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN?!?! WHY?!? WHAT IS THIS?!?!WHO ARE YOU?????? _

His screams, almost petulant, rock the cavern, adding to the violent cacophony of noise that seeks to ascend seemingly to the heavens. He screams and screams, while tears slide down his face. He doesn't know why he feels this sad. He doesn't know how or why he's going to die. He doesn't even know why he risks all of this for one person…

She looks at him… she barely moves. Any colour left in her face is almost gone, leaving an expression of fading light, a look of distant consciousness…

But she uses that remaining strength to force her head to turn fixed into his gaze.

She holds it with him. Not saying, simply engaging his view. Looking. And then she smiles.

His heart melts, and his mind … he can feel the ice melt away.

And suddenly the ground behind her erupts in a titanic upheaval...

He doesn't know what to do, or say….. As he see's the shape… the shape of something he doesn't know... but like the girl, he already knows what the feeling he has means…

Fear….. Fear and sadness…

The shape….. Bathed in light….. No…_No…._ it is the light… But not the same warmth he would find in a sunny, reassuring light. This is a light that's far more intense… a light that has all the properties of light, but give's off a feeling… more attune…

To darkness.

He sees's it… and now every fibre of his being screams at him to run… to hide… to cower in hole, for there is nothing left in the wake of this oh so monstrous light… he feels it… the end.. Of…

He takes one last look at her… and finds an absence where her pallor of warmth was…

He searches with his gaze… and notices to his horror that the light figure turns its strange head... towards a figure on the floor… A blue haired figure…

He sees's it…..

_NO! NOOOO! I CAME HERE TO SAVE YOU! I CAN SAVE YOU! PLEASE, JUST DON'T!!!!!_

Witness his terrified cries of fear and loss…

And witness now as she stands up…. Her strength nearly gone, but she maintains it, her defiance pushing her on, as the monstrous light, as if in its own twisted acknowledgement , raises it's arm, swathed in the darkening light…. And brings it down….

ARE YOU SURE?

YES/NO

In the split second he has before the massive fist came down... he asks her once more… for the final time…

_Why?_

She turns in that final second…. And shows him the canister she was holding, ajar at the top….. And she was holding what looked like a lever…. She….

And before he can recognise the feeling he could associate with the canister… the unease, bursting into despairing panic… she turns to him….smiles… and simply echoes to him.

**I never regretted you.**

The fist comes down.

She closes her eyes.

He screams in fear.

She pulls the lever.

YES.

The noise ascendant reaches its crescendo.

The world goes white.

Everything ends….. And silence… final, total silence….. Is all that's left of another conflict… the only…. True… winner.


	2. INTERLUDE 1: 8 YEARS TO THE DAY

INTERLUDE 1 – 8 YEARS TO THE DAY

Extract from a blog run by anonymous user from 19 November 2000

So far, the new millennium has been occurring at a rather leisurely pace, with nothing that can really described as an apocalyptic scenario occurring. However, world governments continue to run routine software checks. Why, well it's all down to the infamous "Y2K" Virus.

As far back as 1985, the "Y2K" Virus (more commonly known as bug) is mentioned, and was thought to be an impending message of doom. Of course, for those not in the know, the Y2K Virus, as detailed in various articles (Most of them off their rockers in terms of mentality… Oh we're all going to die!!! We're still here you know….) The Y2K Virus (Which is derived from various interpretations, for example, the Y of course being Year, the K standing for 1000 (like with kilograms and kilometres and etc…. and off course the 2 next to the K to make 2 1000's or 2000… case you didn't guess, or like this web user, are appalling at maths…. Gwah, I'll never get it…) was derived from a fear of the binary system of numbers on which we build our computers going to pot. Basically, all our computers up and till the year 2000 have worked via a binary proposal of numbers, in which every year is counted using a form of double digit. For example, 1992 would have been denoted as 92 on a computer during that year, and another example would be, even further back, 1901, and if they had Microsoft, it would a been 01. However, people (the government) were worried that when it reached 2000, and the countdown from 97, 98, and 99 went to 2000, the number system they used would be rendered invalid, and thus break the software, causing system wide computer failure, and reparations felt across the world. People expected airplanes falling out of the sky, all computer/chip based software malfunctioning and breaking down, Nuclear Stations detonating due to computer regulatory systems failing…. ARMAGGEDON! DEATH! WAR! NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST! THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!

Of course, being THIS specific planet, nothing ever lives up to the hype, and sure enough, nothing happened. Oh sure, their were MINOR computer failures, and if their was anything serious, it was probably swept under the rug by some hush hush government agency. Oh you, know, Russia launched three missiles, but they said that was part of their operation against Chechnya, and oh, their was a minor failure with the pieces of equipment used to safely monitor radiation in a nuclear power station in the area of Ishikawa, Japan (As you can see, nothing here on the scale of what happened in that Digimon Movie they released last month. Their were no Virus born monsters off eating the Internet and hacking military defence grids, for their own personal pleasure. And not even one ICBM fired? Geez. Where's gung-ho military types when you need them…) but it was assured that it was safe.

Recently, however, yours truly has been searching the web in search of the various errors that occurred during the transferral period…. Just out of interest. After all, it's something interesting to do…. Or I could be the one hacking into Super Computers and starting Global Thermonuclear Wars…

Uh, on second thoughts, I want something interesting, but want to keep my life while I'm at it.

Anyway….. While I was digging, I found a list of some of the minor failures at various sites…. For example:

While the equipment failure occurred in Ishikawa, according to the BBC's official site, an actual alarm went of at the Onagawa plant two minutes after midnight. In the USA, The Naval Observatory site had a bug which made the date read as January the 1st, 19100m as did the National Meteo Weather Service site in France.

This all look a bit daft, and to be fair minor. However, recent digging has uncovered startling evidence. As it turns out, after much putting my own PC at risk, you find you can trace where the Bug comes from. Oh yes. It's strange, as unlike a normal bug, this method of searching, and its success leads me to believe that the Virus was more… broadcast, as it were…

Why would anyone do that? If I understood that, then I'd understand a lot more about humanity as a whole.

Why does anyone do anything?

Fame?

Notoriety?

Money?

Power?

Fear?

Or is it something… else… altogether? Is whoever had this idea even in their right mind? Or are they on their own world, surrounded by what makes them secure in the knowledge that what their doing is right?

I can't say I know. If I did… well, I wouldn't be doing this for starters…. And you wouldn't be demanding as much info from me, because I'd probably be of making something mad yet brilliant. Y'know, how we mad and elusive types do.

Regardless, I've nearly pinned the location. All I know for now is this… and lt's a privilege that you're even getting to hear this Y'know? This is top secret stuff ….

You really wanna know? Okay… go down…

Further….

Further…

Keep going…

Keeeppppp Gooooiiiinnng….

Okay! So before you smash you PC/Whatever PC your using in disgust, do you wanna know what I know? All top secret and hush hush?

Well… here it is….

It's in Europe.

Surprised right? Not America, after all, the usual winners of secret projects gone awry. Regardless, this is a major breakthrough. And it's important as well. After all, I could be named as some sort of hero if I solve this. After all:

This is like discovering who Jack the Ripper was, or who actually shot Kennedy. Except this time, the general public don't even KNOW it's a crime... But come on! I mean, this is a major discovery! If all goes well….. Well, I can't wait to see what the consequences of this are!

The Y2K Virus was a major scare. However, there are hints that this isn't going to be the last time we see trouble of this nature. There are predictions that similar Year problems could occur in future years, like when they announced that Daylight Saving Time would be implemented in 2007 (Been known about since 1907, all the way back in Merry Old England, but meh, whatever), and no one considered the fact that your going to have to re-calibrate computer systems, VCR's, anything that runs on a timer to abide by the new rules. And if it doesn't work, we're going to have time's screwing up everywhere. Heck, theirs even predictions of problems occurring Far, Far in the future…. Like in 2038, 2070…. Heck, even the year 10,000! (5 digits. You work out the problem there.) By maybe discovering the origins and background behind Y2K, we can discover what it's made off, and use that to prevent any further outbreaks of the virus. That'd be worth a medal, right?

I haven't yet narrowed down the search. This is going to take a lotta time and effort, and who knows when I'm going to be able to reply back with results on this. However, your favourite mystery blogger will get on and discover the truth! After all, this could be the find off the century…

Till the date carved on my chest, mes amigos.

Anonymity


	3. CHAPTER 1: AWAKENING

CHAPTER 1 – AWAKENING

Now.

Is it now?

Time has lost its meaning to you. What do you care? Your consciousness is void in a sea of souls lost to things that stay in the shadows… hidden from your gaze….

You fall…. through layers of darkness and light….

Your eyes are never given time to adjust to the darkness nor are they allowed to stop staring blindly into the light…

You fall…. Through your emotions….

Sadness, Anger, Happiness, Joy…. But more then that… Innocence, Loss, Despair, Rage, Serenity, Selfishness, Greed, Ecstasy…

You fall… Through time….

Birth

_Oh, he's… he's so beautiful…._

_We'll cherish him for all of his life… We promise you… Our son.._

Life

_Why do I always get picked on? Why me?_

_It'll change when your older son…_

_I wish it would, Dad…._

_Who are you?_

_No, WAIT!_

_I know you…._

_Does it matter?_

_I'm…._

_Pleased to meet you…_

_Happiness is…_

_We can do it, right?_

Death

_NO! I CAN SAVE YOU! I CAN SAVE YOU ALL!!!_

_YOU'VE TAKEN THEM AWAY FROM ME!!!_

_I'LL KILL YOU!!! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!!!_

_I didn't think it would end like this…_

_I'm… so cold…_

_I can't see you anymore…._

Birth

Life

Death

Birth

Life

Death

On and on it cycles…. You feel yourself losing your self… becoming absorbed by time…

You fall.

Fall.

Fall….

Fall…..through…

Through… the edge of….

Of….

O….

…..

…..

_I…._

_I….._I…..

Ow.

…. Why do... I hurt all over…..

Agghhh... Seriously, this hurts… Ow... so bad…..

Okay. Let's see. Arm. Ugh…. Swivelling, swivelling... Good. Let's see... that was the right... let's try the left…

….

Yeah that's fine as well. Feet. Okay… both feel fine. Torso… good, no rib damage… Though my head feels… out... like I've just attempted a barrel roll...

Okay… last, but not least… eyes.

Just have to open them.

Open them….

Okay… here... we go!

And about then, that's pretty much when he noticed the Giant Spider crawling in front of his vision.

Oh. Oh, well, that's not pretty, he thought. It was a particularly hairy subject, with the usual 8…. Long… finger like… oh… legs, and 8 eyes... all beady, and glassy… with… fangs… oh, dear... that's not… he felt kind of half way between vomiting and steely fear. He thought to himself, Hmmm… this is going to be a tricky situation to extract myself from. Now let's see… no sword, no magic, certainly no mace +1. Yeah, I may be screwed at this point. No, NO! Don't give up! After all, if theirs a will… theirs a weak point. Now let's see…

The spider had not moved. It mealy tilted it's head, maybe better to analyse it's prey… or was it some other dastardly scheme that it was thinking up, all the better to eat him whole, like some sort of fly? Damn him! This was one intelligent arachnid... it probably had its next victim pickled out for when he was swallowed and gone…

He was desperate. He knew he probably couldn't win… but he'd give it a damn good try! Okay, he thought, just analyse the situation again, and search for a weak point… lets see... what attributes he has….

- Big

- Hairy

- Eight… legs… gag...

- Fangs… that obviously, due to scenario purposes, are dripping with poison…..

- Fierce looking…..

- Oblique.

Wait, what? Oblique?

In other words, the spider was on its side. Yet it was attached to surface that must have been a wall… despite that fact it didn't look anything like a wall… more like… a… floor… a floor he knew well…

As realisation dawned on his foggy and still quite rattled mind, and in that moment, he formulated a plan... a plan that, to his mind, was so brave and daring, that, while if it didn't work, would mean, most likely, certain death… it would be the key by which the mystery would be unlocked of this whole situation….

He tensed… the spider simply stayed where it was…. Its eyes held on where he was… he prepared to make the move…. The moment dragging on into what seemed like, 10 minutes….

Then…

The hand came down, striking right next to "Giant Spider". It looked... well, nonchalant, really, and it seemed to take no notice. While that was odd for a spider, it still explained what was going on. After all, it couldn't be a Giant Hand if it was his own hand, now would it?

He got up. Some how, it still hurt all over, but at least he could retain some sort of dignity if he stood on his own two feet. He looked down at where the "Giant Spider", or, as it was actually known, a common... House... spider... still stood. It turned slightly, still observing him. Strangely peaceful for a spider, he thought. Then his thoughts started turning to proverbial mush, and decided to maybe stop thinking for a while…

He turned away, though turned his head slightly back, and, regardless of whether he was in his right mind or not, remarked to the spider:

"I don't have any issues with you, little guy. Go on, off you go, before I change my mind."

The spider, as if in acknowledgment, crawled away, disappearing under a floorboard.

He heaved a sigh, and started to massage his forehead. He felt that of all the things he wanted to do that night, falling out of his bed, smashing into the floor, and nearly scaring himself to death against a spider was not at the top of his list. Especially after having experienced…

Well, he thought, what was that? I would say it coulda been a dream, he pondered, but regardless of the fact that's it detail was already lost to him; he could remember a sense of purpose to it.

Meh, he thought, that's not important…. What's important is whether or not his parents had heard him fall out of bed.

He crept slowly to the door. He didn't have to move far, after all, his room was only the size of two forklifts, and one of those forklifts would be standing where his bed was placed. On the other side, an old black shelf stuffed with Old Video Games, Books, Comics, DVD's and Video's, and even Toys cut off the space even more. The fact that it looked held together by a tether didn't help his disposition, giving him a jump every time he took something off there, and getting a groaning creak in return.

His room had a window at the end of his bed, which was a bunk bed (Though there was no lower bunk, as he had stuffed even more memorabilia, in piles, and in a large old chest, like toys and comics, under there for safe keeping… and by safe, he meant in a large, messy pile.) Apart from that, old clothes and bits and Manga books lined the floor. He treaded amongst them quietly. As if by magic, as soon as he poked his head out the door, a head, tired looking, but still with a grain of determination poked out from his parent's bedroom down the corridor. His father immediately noticed him, and his face immediately took on a look of slight worry.

"Kotoro..? Are you all right? We heard a noise, and then what sounded like you…."

"Oh, what? No, its s'okay, I'm fine…." He lied, biting back a migraine that felt like a bullet slowly biting into his skull. "No, I just fell out of bed, Y'know…"

"Is your head alright?" Asked his father, a glint of understanding in his eye.

"Uh…" He hesitated, due to both unwillingness to lie, and pain striking his nerves remorselessly. "It does hurt, but I think I'll go see if theirs anything in the mirror. Y'know, like a cut."

His father looked him straight in the eyes "And then….? What, you're going to sew your skull up?"

Kotoro looked slightly aghast "It's not that bad, is it? You can't see anything serious, can you?"

His father relented slightly. "No, I can't. Calm down, just goes have a look, and then come tell me if it's anything serious." He grinned. "If so, well have to amputate your head, and get you a new one"

Kotoro smiled weakly. "Do you know anywhere that sells some good heads?"

His Dad smiled. "Maybe PC World. They might give you one with a built in DVD Player". He then retreated into the room. His voice echoed out towards him. "Go on, off you go. Before the head you've still got falls off."

Kotoro smiled. His dad was always the one to be quite cheerful in any sort of crisis, regardless of big or small. He was an Artist, and was one of the most successful in all of the area. They lived in a town called Falmouth, which wasn't that pleasant in terms of an environment to be raised in, but it was nice enough in general.

He wandered to the Bathroom, his head still hurting, but more of a dull throb then screaming pain. He hoped it was because his Dad's jokes were the most potent medicine. Their actual medical value probably wouldn't stand up to scrutiny, he thought.

He wandered into the room, flicked the light on, and wandered to the sink. The room was a bit stagnant looking, with mouldy plaster and cobwebs hanging in corners, dust gathering everywhere it could…

But to be fair, he thought, its better then no bathroom at all.

He stood, and started into the mirror. He looked around his head, his hair, feeling with his fingers, but when he checked, their was no blood to be found, and no serious injury to behold. He sighed in relief. His parents tended to mention his constant worry, and his need to check if anything serious was going to happen to him if he breathed in some smoke by accident, or passed a busy road, or injured himself, or used his computer too much…. However, they tended to note, if he applied that much worry to his homework, he'd be getting A's in no time.

He grimaced. He hated the fact that nothing he did attributed to what he wanted to do...

What he wanted to do… was be a games designer.

Not for any old company, oh no. He wanted to work for something like Nintendo, or Kuju, or Square... one of the great companies… After all, some of his favourite games like Final Fantasy VII, Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda were made by these giants… and he wanted to do that….

After all, video games were, in his opinion, simply a crafting of fantasy into a form by which other people can experience it. A way to experience an entire world that's been fantasised by a person. A dream… captured in playable formats for all people…

He shook his head, annoyed he was getting distracted. He walked back to the entrance of his parent's room, and whispered in to his father.

"Nope, nothing serious. I'm feeling fine now anyway. I think I'll just have a wash, make a drink, then get into bed." He listened, and the voice that came back was his fathers, with a distinct yawn as well, but also with a additional iota of worry.

"Hmmmm… well, if you're sure. But… don't come crying back here if your head falls off. Remember it was you who wanted to just go back to bed…" he trailed off, but another voice replaced that. This time the softer tones of his mother, but again with worry lining her voice.

"Try to be careful this time, okay? We don't want you spending the whole night trying to crack your skull open." Kotoro winced. That was her being forceful, essentially. In other words, no more being stupid tonight. However, before he could feel bad, a voice floated out again, once again his mothers, this time adding..

"Be careful. I love you, Kotoro."

Even though this was general good night that he heard daily… it still made him lighten up. And his dad was there to add to it as well.

"Good Night Kotoro. I love you too, you know."

He smiled, and replied back,

"Good night Mum, Goodnight Dad… I love you both."

"Oh, not energetic enough to do us both individually, are you?"

"Drake, don't be mean…."

"I'm not! I'm really not!"

Kotoro grinned to himself as his parents silent argument continued while he crept back to the bathroom. He went in, closed the door behind him, and went back to the mirror.

He gazed into the mirror, staring at his own reflection. He himself was odd looking in some ways. He had long hair, for a start, that went down just past his shoulders, not long enough to be considered indie enough, not short enough to be considered…. Well, manly enough, as some rather obnoxious boys in his year had been eager to point out. He had a pale disposition, and a rather pale face. He was thin, and didn't have much muscle on him. Oh, he practiced swordplay, going to various clubs for Kendo, Fencing… but all in all, he didn't have much muscle structure.

His hair, apart from being long, was a dark, black colour, interspersed with dark brown. It could be messy, but it was still a nice shape that it usually conformed to. Though it usually wasn't to anyone outside his family's liking, and even then, his Mother remarked on how he should wash it more, keep it tidier.

Though one of his favourite features was his eyes, the deep blue pupils, though usually hidden behind glasses (another factor towards his general unpopularity) were a good blue, deep and naturally quite nice. He liked them anyway.

He started for a while, then after engaging in an analysis of his own structural flaws according to some oh so high and mighty society, (In his opinion) sighed, and placed his head on his arms at the lid of the kitchen sink. He felt tired… tired physically, from the facts that A) He had smashed himself into his own floor from the top of a bunk bed and B) it was 1:19AM in the morning (He didn't know that 'till he had checked his watch, which he carried in a pocket in his shorts, and nearly groaned at why he had only had an hours sleep), and tired mentally….

He knew he had a bad life socially. He felt like a living example of the Hedgehog Dilemma (He knew the scenario over and over again, but to simply explain it, imagine hugging a hedgehog). He had always tried to be friendly and maybe he had just been friendly with the wrong people. Or maybe he hadn't tried hard enough…

He slumped to the floor, bringing his legs up, and wrapping his arms around them, pulling his knees to his chin. He was mostly tired out though….. From trying to figure out his dream.

All he could remember was that someone died. And that he had failed them.

Great, he thought. Just what I need. Light hearted morbidity.

And with that, he sighed, got up, and crept off to bed again. To sleep… to dream….

Of a far off land forgotten to him, but still there, ever safe….. In a corner of his heart.


	4. INTERLUDE 2: ENGINE

INTERLUDE 2 – ENGINE

Report from an online gaming review magazine called "IVALICE CHRONICLE" from 2nd March 2003

IVALICE CHRONICLE REVIEW

YOUR ONE STOP GUIDE TO EVERYTHING IN THE GAMING UNIVERSE!

THIS WEEK'S SOFTWARE REVIEW:

MUGEN AND ITS SUCCESORS

By RoyOfPheare

Hey, there Ivalice Fans! This week's software review focuses on the 2-D Fighting Engine that spawned the most incredible software known to video game design, Mugen (Okay, this is in my own personal opinion, but still…).

Now this reporter has been a fan of Mugen ever since it was developed all the way back in 1997, when Elecbyte went and developed the software. In essence, it's not a game.

Why? Well, there are a few points:

It can be played like a game, but Mugen was originally intended for the platform of which 2-D Fighting stages, characters and music can be made. It is, first and foremost, a springboard form of design tool for those young game designers. You add characters for testing by adding their .def files to the character folder, and the stage .def files to the stage .def folder etc…

It is an engine. Essentially, as I said above, but it's focus is to be able to emulate the processes and workings of a fully enabled fighting game.

So it's a bit more complex then it looks. However, Mugen inspired a generation of gamers to take up arms and actually get into the design process. And after that, more and more joined them. In actual fact, Mugen became almost viral, in the sense that everyone who heard of it started playing it, including a certain moi, and people who would become influential, like Nagafen and Vick. Who are they?

Well, that's the thing. They, along with another member called Racso, were one of the groups who would go on to develop not only software based of the now famous Mugen engine, but one of the best pieces of successive software invented since.

Of course, most of you know I'm talking about the Mainframe of Game Design and Simulation, or MGDS that was developed from the group that the three of them formed, which they named the "Three Wise Men". (Strange name… but you can't fault them, right?) It was software that cold be used in co-operation with programs like Mugen and RPG Maker. It allowed intuitive development of a game based along whatever principle genre you fancied (Even a faring "Free-Form" genre which allowed a loose form of travelling and gathering characters, sort of like a loose RPG.) Mostly, however, it was used in unison with Mugen to implement incredibly spectacular Pseudo RPG/Fighters that could be considered the best in online games.

We'll be reviewing those games next week as a special treat. However I do want to mention that this reporter feels strongly that without Mugen, we would be missing out on a whole generation of games designers.

This reporter gives Mugen:

8/10

Not a full 10 full10, due to its sheer complexity, but still an excellent piece of kit!

And I give MGDS:

9/10

Again, not a full 10 due to it's rare ability to ignore commands input into the system. But apart from that… welllll, it's pretty much the only Mugen successor that rates this high!

Next week, we'll be reviewing more software produced by the "Three Wise Men", and what their software implications has had on Game's design over the past few years.

Until then!


	5. CHAPTER 2: RECYCLE

CHAPTER 2 – RECYCLE

Every day.

Same thing.

As Kotoro awoke from his slumber, exiting the strange world that escaped his notice, his knowledge, yet remained in his mind, he found the harsh rays of sunlight flooding into his room.

"Ack." Was the only thing he cold muster in terms of a verbal response, as he shrugged himself under the blankets, trying to shield his eyes from the foreign beams of light that kept trying to break into his vision. He tossed and turned, trying some form of evasive manoeuvre, but not even a patented barrel roll, he thought, annoyed, could dodge me outta this one. With an annoyed sigh, he sat up, letting the blanket fall to his waist, his eyes narrowing in disgust at the invasion of light. He pointed at where he believed the sun to be hovering, and then at the light.

"This isn't over." He growled. He then turned, hurling his legs, like large, thin paddles, over the side of his bunk bed and jumped down.

He landed safely, and felt for any traces of lasts nights' bodily discomfort. Nothing.

He grinned to himself. He had at least something going for him at the moment.

He got changed quickly, pulling off his shirt and shorts (and offering a quick glance of suspicion out of the door) and then putting on his usual shirt, a white smart shirt (Though after it's short life time with Kotoro, it was looking less smart by the day), blue jeans, a Black jacket, his converses (though he wasn't good with laces, so that took a bit of time as well…) and grabbed his glasses. After running to the bathroom to have a quick wash and clean his teeth at a speed that seemed to defy belief, (bumping into his sisters who absentmindedly muttered "Hey") he ran downstairs, taking his watch from where he had absently left it on the haphazard shelf that had been placed into the middle of the hall, stuffed it into his pocket, grabbed his laptop, and had some breakfast (Over his mothers reassuring words for the day, and the sound of Storm Hawks on the Television) while avoiding his many dogs (3, in total) and single cat, then manoeuvring into the hall, past sisters getting ready, and finally through the door, on his way to college, waving to his mother (His father had left to deliver some work to a local gallery that needed art urgently, and had liked what they saw in some of his pieces) as he traipsed down the road.

"Ahhh"… he let out a low sight of relief, and put his arms behind his head, as he continued to stroll down the road… he felt more relaxed when he walked. Unfortunately, that didn't normally last too long, as he passed through what he had affectionately named… The Gauntlet Run.

The "Gauntlet Run", as Kotoro described it, (Mostly to himself) was the distance between the college and his home and passing from one of these locations to the other. Easy, right?

Wrong.

The Gauntlet was so named due to the sheer volume of young children (if you could still call them that… the language was colourful enough to make a Nun have a cardiac arrest, let alone blush), older children (who took it upon themselves to spontaneously judge people whenever the sighted someone worthy of discrimination in their eyes…) and various college students (The college was attached to the school, and was heavily advertised as being easier for former students. As Kotoro had realised, easier did not necessarily mean better).

Maybe I'm too serious, he thought, scratching the back of his head, a look of worry crossing his face. Maybe If I just…well, gave people more of a chance, I'd get more friendly responses! He smiled, and without a bit of hesitation, wandered towards the street across the road, where a large amount of this cavalcade of young people tended to wander.

Hey, he mused, halfway across the road, it's not that bad. Maybe I'll have some fun fo-

HEY MATE! GET YOUR HAIR SORTED!

YEAH, YA DIRTY HAIRED HOBO!

HAHAHA! HO-BO, HO-BO!!!

By the third phrase, he was all ready back across the road, and walking quickly ahead. He hung his head low, and started to chastise himself.

Idiot. No, big idiot. No, not even that, HUGE idiot. Why do I bother? Why do I even think they can change? I mean come on; I can barely hold it together enough to get to school each day…. Trying to reach out to the young community on top of this walk is kind of beyond my power… He let out a heavy sigh, and then began to run, heading off at his usual fast pace, with the usual jeers of the younger masses accompanying him like a harsh brass band. The day had officially begun.

The school of Falmouth, sometimes mockingly called "The Academy" by its younger body of students, claimed that it was a pantheon of learning prowess that was one of the top end schools to send your children. Behind its success was a major campaign in various papers and websites locally that included success by former students, its daily activities (for some reason always showing a grinning student, or a student, still grinning a jokers smile, working with a teacher, both grinning, both smiling or a younger student gazing in awe at some sort of subject of interest….) and it's special events, like days where they engaged in activities that related to a special subject, like Art, or General safety, or Business.

These displays of sophistication and savvy of appearance did not just extend into it's advertising, but even the general structure of the school itself. It was a large complex, spanning the area of a mid-sized field, the kind of size that wouldn't look out of place in a campus on a university. It was distinctly divided into two buildings, and while the name given to each block were simple, the one closest to the road being Block A, and the block further in, which had been rather recent in it's upgrade, with new sections and new paintwork, called Block B, there was a rumour that the janitors had given each their own name, Block A being "Fenrir" down to it's more classic, older look, and it's dark foreboding, especially at night, as shadow was like a fish to water for this building… and Block B being "Vicory"… though no one really knew why, if they were honest. After all, the janitor's had a fairly monotonous and sickening job. Cleaning up after thousands of children EVERY DAY... THE WHOLE…. WEEK...

You'd start to name buildings as well.

Kotoro entered through the path at the front of the school, and then detoured left through a path. He knew that in the layout of the buildings, Fenrir and Vicory both arranged against each other in an eastern facing arch shape, both separately L shaped, and both connected via a large, contemporary aspiring tunnel, with a see through walk way, and shiny, stainless steel bars. The path under the tunnel led to the college attachment. And to be honest, compared to the extravagant effort poured into fashioning the rest of the school, the college seemed to define negligence.

It was a boxy building, attached to Fenrir by an old, more classical looking walkway. It had a look of hasty arrangement, as if it had been set up quickly from a large, yet quite old pre-fab shelter. It was grey, stony looking, with bits of plastic painted like wood. A sign, written in black and white, with what looked like a quite weathered look. The windows were large enough that it can be stared into like a zoo, with what was left of some old sets of chairs and tables. Various students of the college were inside, sitting, chatting, laughing… he realised he was staring, shook his head violently, then walked around the side, deciding to enter the study area.

Kotoro blinked as he walked in. No one here. The room was a quite large space, interspersed with desks, chairs, and computers, along with an old printer, and a few tables. He grinned. If their was one thing he loved about the school, the only perk... It was most certainly this room. It was messy, with bits and pieces of interesting objects here and there. Maybe it was the computers. Maybe it was the fact it reminded him strongly of his room. He let out a happy sigh. Home from home.

He went to a computer in the corner and flicked on the power switch. It remained dead. A brief look of puzzlement crossed his face before he brightened back up and checked the plug behind it. He found it cast aside, with some wires, and a wrapper from a Terry's Chocolate Orange. He brushed the wrapper aside (and wondering how on earth it got their… unless IT techies ate classic chocolate while fixing Internet leads) and picked it up, bashing it back into its socket, and flicking the switch on.

The screen displayed a message:

SIGNAL CABLE DIAGNOSTIC ERROR

He stared at the screen for a few moments, before simply reaching round the hard drive, and flicking its main power switch off and on again. Suddenly it booted into life, the screen adopting a deep blue. He smiled slightly. When in doubt.

A door clunked behind him. He flicked his gaze momentarily to the door. It was just two students, one a boy with short brown hair and a bright pink hue. He had slightly dark clothes, wearing a short dark red coat, black jeans, and a shirt with a picture of a one way road sign emblazoned on the front. He turned his head, and sighted Kotoro, and smiled a broad smile. He waved him, and shouted across.

"Hey, Kot! Kotoro!"

Kotoro looked slightly puzzled. "I'm standing right here, Kyle. Why're you shouting?"

Kyle grinned. "Oh, too enthusiastic! Ohhh, well I guess, if you're that ungrateful, I'll take our friendship" He made a grand gesture that looked like an overdose of ripping "And smash it to pieces, shall I?" The girl next to him smiled slightly.

Kotoro smiled, and held up his hands in mock defeat, taking on a voice of a wounded nature. "Ahhh… you wound me, you wound me... or at least you would do if A) I didn't know you since we were, what, 8 years old? And B) you made a gesture to rip and you said "smash". So I win" He made a victory punch in the air, grinning broadly. Kyle's face broke into a look of shock horror.

"What? WHAT????? NOOOOOOO!" He bowed his head in shame. Suddenly, the girl went and poked him in the shoulder.

"Kyle, I'm going to look for the others"

"Uh?" Kyle looked up, genuine surprise on his face. "Umm, yeah, okay. I'm just gonna talk with Kot for a bit, Kay?" She stared, before quickly offering a glance to Kotoro, then back to Kyle.

"Fine" she said, her voice sounding quite far off. She walked off, giving a cursory nod to Kotoro, almost making it feel forced, before opening the main sections door and disappearing through it. Kotoro stared after her for a moment then turned back to Kyle. A lopsided grin had appeared on his face.

"Sorry about May. She's still... well…"

"Still what? Mad?"

"Uh… kind of…"

"For what? Telling her to act more like my friend? Telling her to stop being so distant?"

"Kot…."

"What? I can't help it if I want her to be more responsive. I do everything right, listen, help out, and be polite, courteous…"

"Kot, come o-"

"And it's not just her, it's all of them! Max, Fagan, Conner… all of them…. It's not fair! It's not fair! I have to go through this every singl-"

"Kot, stop it!"

Kotoro looked up. He had lost track of what had happened, and didn't know when he had looked down in dismay, or when he had started tearing up the casual bits of paper left lying around (usually by the cleaners worried they would be used for work). He didn't know when Kyle had advanced forward either, but he was standing in front of him now, a look of concern on his face. Kotoro stared at his hands, and at the scraps. He then slowly kneaded his forehead.

"Uhh... sorry about that Kyle..."

"Hey, its okay, Kot…"

"No it's not. I shouldn't be flying off with the one friend I know is really my friend..."

"Hey, flattery aside, it's not your fault..."

"Ugh…" He felt much worse then he had last night. Physical injury he could handle. Social recoil was a bit more for damage control. He felt his eyes. They were watering slightly. He was quick to brush any remnant of tears aside.

"Uhh… I really hate this, Y'know."

"I know."

"Really, really"

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

Kot looked back up at Kyle; whose face had taken on a bad impression of distant thought. He grinned, and then wiped his arm across his eyes once more, before heaving a sigh.

"Sorry to lump this on you this early in the day, Ky" Kyle shrugged.

"Hey, it's fine. Keeps me on my toes for the rest of the day… and I know theirs going to be a "rest of the day", isn't their, Kot?" He offered a piercing glare, from which Kotoro quickly relented. Though it would sound odd to a passer by, per chancing upon the conversation, Kotoro knew that sentence was laced with a dreaded prediction of the day ahead. However, Kyle quickly relented, letting out his own worn sigh, before saying in a defeated voice,

"Just try to be sociable, Kay?" Kotoro looked aghast, adopting a stance of defence.

"But I always try and..." Then he noticed Kyle's warning glare, and grinned.

"Okay, okay…. Just for you " he remarked, saying it with his back turned as he stared at where he had set up his place next to the computer he was purveying. Kyle, seeing this, walked up to him, with an edge of worry in his voice "You're sure?" Kotoro waved his hand, in a gesture befit of waving away the matter.

"Yeah, yeah" he muttered, trying to give the impression that the matter was more an annoyance. In reality, though, he was to the brim with worry over what the day had in store. He chastised himself. All he did was either design or worry the day away. He shook his head. He needed a break at some point. From life. Altogether.

He checked his computing area. By this point, the PC he was using, though whirring at an alarming rate, with a sound much akin high speed winds, instead of delicate internal equipment, had reached the point where the computer logo had appeared against the dull, blue background, and the request to log on appeared in a gray box in the centre. Kotoro immediately diverted his gaze towards the box, and ran his fingers over the keyboard. He grinned as he felt the familiar contours of the blocky, yet well arranged keys. He held down the Ctrl-Alt-Dlt command to enter the section of entry, then surfed over the keyboard, quickly typing the user name and password into the required fields, before slapping the enter key with a casual demeanour that belied his speed. Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"How you even manage to do that with such speed is beyond my feeble mind", he joked, his arms folded and leaning against the table just behind them. His face studied the screen, almost as if he thought he could find the secret of Kotoro's speed etched in the dull LCD monitors. However, he soon appeared to give up (though not without still operating random cursory glances every so often) and turned to see what Kotoro was doing.

While the PC was logging on, Kotoro was sprawled behind the empty space where he had been sitting but a moment ago. He had dragged what looked like a spare hard drive (due to the constant need for the computers to be fixed) and had dropped it into the corner. He then proceeded to take out what looked like a card, (he himself glanced at the edges, looking as if he was searching for a single inexcusable detail…. When in actual fact, he just wondered if he had left it too close to the fire, as it had the same look and texture of what he had had on his toast yesterday afternoon…) carefully placed it on it's side, ran it along the back edge of the hard drives back cover, where the internet cables and wires could usually be found. This was all viewed by Kyle, who looked sceptical at best.

"You do know that you won'..."

"Shhh." Kotoro pushed him for silence. And sure enough, without a moment's hesitation, as soon as his arm lifted the card form the final blackened edge, the back fell away. This revealed a cavalcade of wires, and various pieces of circuitry and circuit board intermeshed with each other, giving the appearance of the organs of a not long dead being. Kotoro's smile widened to a broad grin. Now he was in territory he understood, Kyle, though far from confused (he had studied IT at GCSE at a high end grade, and thus knew quite a bit about the internal mechanics of them. Mainly from training with the IT technicians of the school as well, but they had a more lax attitude towards IT so to speak…) looked puzzled more at the situation.

"Heck Kot, I know you like to design games and all, but why do you need an extra hard drive for goodness sakes? After all, I'm sure yours would-"

"Unfortunately, not for the project I'm crafting Kyle. "

"Whady'a mean by that?" Inquired Kyle, a slight look of curiosity crossing his face. Kotoro smiled a sly smile, waving his index finger from side to side, simply responding,

"Ah-ah. Now, now, if I told you, I'd have to kill you"

"Awww…. Come on," moaned Kyle, a look of either mocking or genuine distress (As Kot had noticed over the years he'd know Kyle, Kyle had distress down to a pat), "please…"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Plea-ease!"

"No-o!"

"Oh come on… pleaaaasssseeeeeee?"

"Oh, for goodness sake-"

"I'll be your friend!"

"But you… oh, fine, Princess Peach, seeing as how you're so cosy all of a sudden…"

"I'll have you know I prefer the term 'Princess Toadstool' thank you very much."

Kotoro gave him a dirty look.

"Or Peach is fine", Kyle nervously muttered, before transcending completely to mumbling. He then moved forward to join Kotoro in front of his laptop, which, while taken out of his bag, he was busy attaching wires such as network cables and wires that were formerly used for power transference into the base. Kotoro adopted a small smile.

"I'm designing a game"

"Obviously" Remarked Kyle, but then shut his mouth after yet another dirty look. Kotoro turned back to his work, plugging more and more wires in. He continued to talk as if he had it all planned perfectly.

"However, this isn't any old game, oh no. It incorporates the ideas I had for my Mugen series… you remember right?" he remarked pointedly to Kyle. The brown head boy thought for a moment, till a slight ray of dawn pierced his musings.

"Oh, yeah! I remember!" He grinned. "I love Sol, Y'know? He was really quick, yet really powerful…." Kotoro gave him a stare.

"Basically, so perfect stat wise you couldn't go wrong with him?" Kyle's face turned slightly red, and he mumbled,

"Fine, Fine, I get the picture." Kotoro grinned slightly, and then turned back to what he was saying.

"Anyhoo, I've been using that rare engine, MGDS, in coalition with it to add a free form aspect to it that I feel was missing before. However…." He added another grin. "I'm using access codes for PC based software that I found just lying around a while back." Kyle sat on the tabletop, his interest piqued.

"What do you mean just lying around? You don't just chuck old PC's in a scrap heap and call it quits, right?" Kotoro offered a delighted look, which was usually a sign that he was A) happy that someone was interested in his stories and B) a slight hint of how he felt assured in his own field of expertise.

"No, you're right, they don't. However, I needed a large amount of software, and I found the definitive place for it. All of it." His eye's widened in glee. Kyle's look changed to one of puzzlement. His eyes went dark with thought. Kotoro knew what he was thinking about, but he simply waited but a moment… until Kyle remarked,

"But… well, how did you find PC based software post-2000 that was easy enough to crack open for this project? Surely with the amount of security and firewall's kept in place to regulate that sort of thing, you'd have trouble from your attempts in accessing the hardware in an easy and secure way that doesn't constantly cause conflict with it's many other programs?" He saw that Kotoro was still broadly grinning. Kyle stared.

"What?"

"Think about it." Kyle stared a moment longer, and then went back into that state he fell into during hard thought. What was so funny? He needed good post – 2000 software if he wanted easy to use programming otherwise he would have to suffer through limited and altogether more annoying processes that were associated with the more next gen computers. Laptops were too expensive, and the day he actually fitted a mainframe in his room (the sorts of computers massive organizations used, not a 17-year old loner games designer from Falmouth) was the day Kyle made 1st place in the Grand National. Bearing in mind he was allergic to horses.

No, he thought, he needs some really easy to use software. Something basic, like a pre-2000 piece of kit, but that would be too risky as they wouldn't be fully calibrated for use with post-2000 computers in joint wired linking. No one who worked in either IT or Games Design was mind-bogglingly mental enough to do something as stupid as…. With a shocking realization coming into his head, he looked Kotoro straight in the eye, his own eyes wide with surprise.

"You didn't"

"I did"

"You're not that daft"

I think you'll find I am"

"Kot, seriously, stop kidding around..." He noticed Kot ruffling around in his bag, a look of sheer excitement on his face.

"AHA!"

He suddenly let out a cry of joy that made Kyle fall of the table in surprise. His head thudded against the floor and stars broke out in front of his eyes, as well a dull ringing sound.

"Uh… Ky? You alright?" came Kotoro's voice through the dull noise.

Kyle rubbed his eyes before he decided to give his good friend an earful.

"Kot," he rumbled, opening his eyes, "I really think you-"

He stopped. After all, wouldn't you if something you feared was confirmed before your eyes, regardless of its severity?

Kot was holding aloft over his head, his face broken in mock surprise (Kyle ignored the Zelda reference) an old, quite dusty looking amalgamation of green plastic, and dull silver metal. It glinted subtly in the light, almost like a hidden hunter, watching and waiting for its prey to arrive. Or had it already arrived? Regardless, Kyle recognised it for what it was.

"Where did you get a pre-2000 CPU?" Kyle stood agape, staring at it in a form of fearful wonderment.

"I know a few people who know a few people" Kotoro remarked, a sly grin stretching his face. However, he was making that up. After all… what people? Apart from other people on gamer's forums, he hardly knew anyone outside of Kyle. But he had requested it from a good friend he had had on a classic console forum he knew.

"Oh, really?" Kyle's face broke into a quick grin before going stoic again. He had noticed something strange about the CPU's arrangement. It looked….

"It looks fat" He noticed. Kotoro didn't refute the statement, if anything, smiling more by it.

"I know. That's because it's not just one CPU…" He started, but Kyle was quick to finish.

"It's two. I guess you did the interconnecting work?" He looked quizzically at Kotoro. Kotoro himself beamed widely.

"Yeah! After all, gotta get in some practice… cause..." He suddenly looked shocked.

"Oh crud. Wasn't meant to say that last bit." He started to scratch his head, one of his many, MANY nervous habits. Kyle, however, wanted to press for information. After all, he had a pretty good idea what he wanted to do.

"You want to add to your own laptop CPU, which itself is already generously large…" He breathed in, and let out the air in his next, single strung sentence…

"One school hard drive, most likely another dual core, a set of processors from computers… pre… 2000… that you have managed to mesh together for some reason that you define as practice… AND… on top of that… you want to add... Another set of processors, that you want to put together as well. I hope their from a newer generation of model this time?" Kotoro nodded, the grin having returned back on his face.

"Pretty much, yeah." Kyle's eye's narrowed, as he was tempted to pursue the meaning behind "Pretty much". However, Kotoro, as if sensing the mood, quickly checked the watch he had grabbed earlier, and his face took on a look of surprise.

"Uh-oh, Ky. You better go. Bells' going in the next five minutes, and you were the one who wanted to look for the others, right?" He smiled in an oh-so-innocent kind of way. Kyle glared, but then sighed, and collected his stuff. He added, though, while he was getting ready,

"Hey, you've got an awful lotta equipment for someone who has to go to lessons today. And your one of the most study conscious people I know. What're you-"

Kot interrupted him, an honest smile on his face.

"S'okay. I've only got ICT, and we're doing the coursework, right? I've got it first lesson, and I requested to stay here so I can finish it by researching outside lesson. It helps having their trust after working hard the past 5, 6 years… something you know, huh?"

Kyle smiled. As he packed away, he moved towards the door, but turned round as he neared the entrance. He took on a look of mock menacing.

"Don't think this is over." He growled through gritted teeth, and pointed steadfastly at Kotoro. Kotoro himself smiled a small smile, and took on a look of pretend arrogance.

"Heh. You can try, but you won't succeed, boyo."

Kyle grinned.

"Till next time, my boon companion."

"Till the next time I'm reincarnated, My Immortal lovechild"

Kyle glared, before smiling in a mocking way and disappearing through the door. As he heard it close, Kotoro smiled to himself, and stretched before beginning to type into his laptop. Now for that "ICT Coursework" distraction… then on to some real work.

It was 50 minutes later, when Kotoro finished typing the last section of his IT coursework, that he cracked his first smile since Kyle had left. He sighed. He was good at his work. However, his work was depressingly dull. He knew that, and though he had to do it, it gave him no relish. They didn't even do Programming for god's sake! I mean, what was the point, he thought?

He snapped himself out of his argumentative stupor, and saved his work. After e-mailing away for checking, waiting for five minutes for confirmation, and finally receiving the e-mail that gave him the thumbs up (i.e. it was good… very good) he realised his work was done for the day. A sly grin slowly appeared on his face, and he stretched again, this time getting up and walking about, exercising his limbs, getting ready for it… when he entered his state of mind while designing, he usually forgot to do absolutely anything else apart from occasionally have something to eat. This wasn't good, and after having got cramp several times, he usually exercised a bit before he started his "run".

He grinned. This was one of the best parts of his day, after all.

He closed all other programs running, and ordered the laptop to shut down. He had an instant command system that he had implemented from a hacked system based of an old MSN program he knew was now defunct. This allowed him to input commands by calling up a tab via Ctrl+P pressed simultaneously, and then typing in the laptops name, along with a command such as OPEN etc or CLOSE DOWN etc.

He smiled. He loved the efficiency of the system, and especially when it was connected to multiple CPU's.

He entered the command:

Yuca, INTIATE SHUT DOWN.

His laptop, who he had fondly named Yuca, complied, instantly closing down, the screen cutting out to black. He then picked up the machine, and turned it on its head.

He then proceeded to delicately remove the lower case, where the battery would usually be found.

Instead, a cacophony of wires and modified sections, with unusual entry plugs and various shapes, gleamed back at him. He smiled, taking the School Hard Drives other wires, such as its internet outlet cable, and various miscellaneous others, and inserting them in a specific order that he deemed sensible. Not only that, like he had rehearsed this many, many times before. As soon as he had finished, he placed the laptop as flat as he could, and quickly turned it on.

It turned on 10 seconds faster then previously. Not bad, he thought. He skated over the keyboard, and ran various system checks. He then booted up the system task manager, and checked the CPU usage. In other words, how much computing prowess was being actually used by the laptop at the moment. He grinned. It had doubled.

He ordered another shutdown. And this time, he picked up the old CPU. He was about to slide it in, when he froze halfway. He thought to himself, what if Kyle was right? What if the compatibility test fails? What if it destroys his motherboard, wiping out every single piece of data he had spent the last year working on...? Then he smirked. Meh, he thought, the more risky it is, the more excited I get, and with that, he slid the CPU he had designated for it, and switched Yuca back on.

The screen appeared instantly, which amazed him, but to his chagrin, remained a dull, monotone blue colour. He refused to let himself panic, and calmly placed the laptop gently on its left side, as he took out a small piece of wire from his pocket. Using it, he rummaged through the connections, but found no wire out of place, and, to his greater dismay, everything was set up exactly how he had wanted it. He sighed. That meant the problem was internal, and thus meant that his numerous actions in meshing the two CPU's was unsuccessful. His sigh became a groan, and he slumped forward onto his laptop, his head in his hands. Kyle was right, he should've picked better software… more recent, more reliable…. And his own headstrong idiocy had led to this fault in his overblown plan. He closed his eyes, letting the thrum of the computer work into his ears, the slow and systematic beat of the machinery becoming more fluid as it blended with the other noises, the sound of his own breathing, the dull whistle of the wind outside. He sat there, and simply listened. He felt awful, and after having dealt with this, his social problems were beginning to look comparable to the sheer amount of risk involved in this.

He heaved his breath, slowly drawing it in and out, wanting nothing more then to rest.

He felt the machinery's fan cutting in, it's rapid spinning prowess pushing the gentle heat out, and where it settled anywhere it chose to fall. He felt some land on his cheek, heating it slightly, making his face glower. He felt himself become dizzy slightly, tired, as the heat and the gentle surroundings worked their subtle power, the veil of sleep descending over his consciousness…..

It's a foreboding place.

The walls are darkened and ominous within their shadows.

The corridor he travels along is filled with paintings, all of the same man, from different times, different places, but still never changing, ever the same. They stare down at him with eyes that aren't quite human, white with a pupil of blood red, an almost fang like smile stretching across some of their faces.

He does not notice this though. He is busy running…. Running from a threat he doesn't know, but as soon as he turns back, all he see's is shadow, eternally stalking him, like his own Grim Reaper.

He presses forward. His left arm, close to his side, grips something…. He has no idea of its origin, but knows it will help him in the conflict to come…

He arrives at a stairwell... he jerks his head, desperate to identify the target he is searching for, but only hears ringing bells and echoing, insane laughter. As if confirming his suspicions, he dashes up the stairs, a look of determination appearing strongly on his face.

The bells toll…

He is nearly at the top when a sudden cold invades his person from behind him. He turns his eyes wide in alarm. Yet there is nothing there but shadows and all they do is line the walls, stretched across them like dark inhabitants of night. He shakes his head, taking the feeling of unease away from his mind and forcing it out, then turning back and continuing his run.

He runs and runs… the staircase continuing, like a timeline, stretching out into his distant future… he runs for what seem like hours, the stairway refusing to give up, almost as if it is trying to grind away at his spirit, forcing him to submit to eternity…

However, he runs, an unknown drive forcing him on and on…. Until the end of his journey…. Until the top….

His final destination.

As he pushes through the top, bursting through the flimsy trap door that seals him into this cycle of weary exhaustion, arriving at the top of … this… place… he immediately jumps into a stance he knows displays a hardened defence, with the object he clutches brought close to his face, placed in front as if to guard it from an unsalable attack from a place beyond his vision. Yet even then, the closer this object is to him, the more his vision is bent around it, to the sky… rendered in red, as if a crisis threatens to tear the sky apart… and beyond that…. to the moon.

It hangs overhead, a vast globe, indifferent to its surroundings, its colour merely adjusting to the crimson glow that has enticed and encapsulated the nightline above. Yet even then, its spectacle, while indifferent, chooses to add to the scene, to the air, to the wind… as the laughter inches ever closer to the present.

He turns, looking back towards the shadows that seem to inch ever closer… slithering through the hole in the floor like serpentine liquid, possessed of a mind of it's own. The red sky fills all, the pillars, monolith like, jutting through the floor, itself a strange mesh of modern metals and scaffolding that looks to have been there since a dawn from another age, while they attempt to stab through the red, but instead become tarred with it, like knives just warm from a recent kill. He becomes distracted, awed by the spectacle, until he hears the laughter die, and immediately his gaze turns downward, in front of him…. Where the shadows gather, where the nightmare coalesces into solidity, where twisted hope and eternal suffering bear form.

The Tatari is here.

He stands, his feet frozen as his mass of shadows form a figure, hunched and demonic….. he knows he must rush it now, finish it, before it composes himself… his every sense screams at him to lunge, to use his object of destructive power to rip the shadows asunder for ever, and fill it's place with a light of a different nature..

_Wait._

He begins to crouch; ignoring the silent order in his mind, his eyes desperately searching for what he hopes is a weak spot that is present in the apparition's ever-shifting body….

_Wait._

He hears it again, this time as he prepares to strike a blow towards the creature's cranial area… and splay what this shadow has for a mind….. But this time, he slows, and once again, he hears its call from beyond reason…

_Wait._

Why? Why should I?

_Wait. _

Why?!? WHO ARE YOU???

But again, it simply voices its monotone advice, over and over…

_Wait._

The fury that he feels is nothing…. compared to the curiosity that is aroused over what the outcome of simply waiting…. For the inevitable…

But his thoughts clash with his instincts, which all recoil in horror at this… abstract monstrosity, this non-existent cold in the night…. It screams and screams, over and over, kill it, KILL IT! FINISH IT WHILE YOU CAN STILL BREATHE, YOU IDIOT! IT WILL FINISH YOU ALL, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!

All of us?

_Wait._

IT'S ALL OVER IF YOU DON'T FINISH IT! KILL IT NOW, WHILE IT'S WEAK! DO IT!

How do I know it's weak?

_Wait._

NOW! DO IT NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!

What if I don't want to?

_Wait._

YOU DON'T HAVE A SAY! YOU CAN'T COMPREHEND WHAT MUST BE DONE!

Who are you to judge me in this way? Who are you?

_Wait._

I AM YOU. I AM EVERYTHING YOU ASPIRE TO BE, EVERYTHING YOU WERE, ARE AND WILL BE. I ORDER YOU… KILL IT!

If there's one thing I know, it's that YOU are not me. Now… please… get out of my head.

I AM YOU! I AM! YOU IDIOT, KILL I-

I told you politely enough the first time. Now I will tell you again.

I WILL MAKE Y-

Get

_Wait._

LISTEN T-

Out

_Wait._

LIS-

Of

_Wait_

HOW CA-

My

_There._

N-N-NO-

HEAD!!!!

_Look._

Before he can deafen the sound in his head to that of a whisper, the patient voice mysteriously directs his attention to the shadow again. His gaze is ripped from the sky, his head having lolled upwards as the internal angst of emotion tore through its act of distraction, and his eyes once more point towards where the living, cursed shadow was frothing and roiling into shape, a dark tide on a sea of unknowns. Except the tide was past. And now, the shape had become…

A school friend he once knew covered in blood, his eyes devoid of his soul…. Dead and gone…

A spider that is twice his size, its body hairy and gnarled, its eyes dark and empty of mercy… fangs dripping with a mixture of blood, poison and saliva…..

A person who had despised him long ago, his body crouched and ready to tackle, to attack, to kill. His face twisted in a form of gross pleasure... _No..._

A Family member, there body twisted and drained of all life, shambling _No, this isn't right _left and right, trying to move forward, arms outstretched…

_No I'm not _A dog he'd once owned, _really _hung from a _seeing _rope _this _

_I'M_

Friend

_NOT_

Spider

_REALLY_

Bully

_SEEING_

Family

THIS!

He screams the last word, and like a knife of sound, cuts through the shadowy nightmares on front of him…. All of them fading their soulless eyes disappearing… replaced by him.

Replaced by it.

He is a site that defied true definition. A tall man... floating? Is he… floating? He has the look of youth, of a handsome disposition, through his face, serene, his eyes closed and his mouth bearing no signs of words ever having passed through it. He is tall, wrapped in a close held cape, darkened purple in colour, with lines of crimson red cutting along the inside edge. The cape itself is almost gothic in appearance, long and large, the collar tucked out, jutting from his neckline, yet held back by a gold, braided length of rope, fastened to either side of the collar by silver, plain brooches. Under this fantastically strange cape, he simply has a white ruffled handkerchief collar, leading down his chest just under his collar, and from there, downward, and from there, a purple fastened jacket, joined by an orange interweaved section down to his waist. Ruffles poke from the wrist, of an anomaly in his look that he only just notices.

A hand, poking just out of the cape, held against his chest…. His left hand…

Though the pink hue of humanity was possessed by it, and of course, it had a basic shape of a hand…. That's where the similarity's end. It had an air of unknown about it. It had something that couldn't be described, but was almost claw like… like a hand built not for warm greeting, but survival… at any cost.

His hair is golden blonde, simply middle parted, and while rising slightly from there, once at the side of his hair, falls down gently to his shoulders, and down the sides of his collar.

He is a myriad of the acceptable, and the unusual, the proper and the out of place,

The regular and the defying

Right and…. Wrong.

In every sense of the word.

_He's floating._

He repeats this to himself, the word rising to the forefront of his thought.

_He's … well, wrong. _

_He can't do that. How can he do that?_

He starts to realise that the action of floating is not what's bothering him. As he floats there, his eyes sealed to him, his composure defying the situation…. He just…

_What is it? Why can't I think..?_

He realises that his vision is blurring, a whir of noise is building in his head, his nightmares falling in front of his visions, again and again…

Friend

His head threatens to crack open…

Spider

He see's the distant image of the anomalous man, fading away, the calm composure ever present…

Bully

His voice finds what strength he has left… an image called from memory…

Family

Wa…. Wallac……chia….

A distant smile curls the face of the fading anomaly…. His composure disappearing from calm to joyless mirth…..

More memories…._No..._ I …._I…_

**A distant world**

**A ruined city**

**A forgotten experiment**

**An unseen darkness**

**A fallen star**

Zephia….

And before the world shrinks away to darkness, he has one last view… of an old shrine, brandished red in the moonlight…. And of a strange, forgotten man… a look of shock crossing his face, for the first time in a thousand years….. Before a hint of red…. And then the world fades to black…

Someone's…. calling...

.o…o.

My… name…

.ot...o?

**Distant world**

My… name?

.oto..o??

**Ruined city**

Who… are you?

Koto.o!

**Forgotten Experiment**

Who am I…?

Kotoro!!

**Unseen Darkness**

I'm… Kotoro?

KOTORO!!!

**FALLEN STAR**

Kotoro…

I'm Kotoro….

I'm…

"KOTORO"! He screamed, his eyes suddenly bursting open. He found a group of people, very familiar people, confronting him, and at their head…

"Uh….yeah, I think I still remember who you are, Kot." Came the answer of Kyle, a look of worry quickly replaced by a general mask of comedic befuddlement. "After all, I only saw you about an hour ago!" His grin widened. Behind him, the four people, including Mei, who looked downright embarrassed, did not, from some of their stony shock, and red flush, share that same entertaining view. They were, as Kot remembered them, Fagan on the left, his short, died green hair, with it's sheer oddness, contrasting Fagan's stony faced view of the event. His arms were folded across a white, unbuttoned shirt, and beneath that, a vest, with a silver chain dangled around his neck, and bright blue jeans. Next to him, Mei, dressed in her usual attire of a short skirt, a black t-shirt, and unbuttoned white jacket, not violent white, but more snowy, calm, with traditional converse shoes that had a just bought look, who herself was standing in front of Max. Max himself was far less "masculine" looking then his name implied. He was tall, yes, but skinny, and wore ill-fitting clothes of a brown trench coat, over a black, undone tie, and baggy jet-white jeans, with dark black boots. His face, however, bared a large degree of intelligence, and instead of stoniness, a look of curiosity and puzzlement seemed to cross his features. However, next to him, Conner stood, an unreadable expression, somewhere that could have either been amusement, disgust, sympathy, and maybe even envy all seeming to cross his face. He wore a simple black shirt with a S printed in a wavy fashion over it, and simple trousers coloured matte black. He had his hands to either side of him, neutral, contrasting with Max, who had one hand stroking his chin a traditional mad scientist way…. As you do, Kotoro sluggishly thought. However, straightening himself mentally, he thought, now is definitely not the time to be doing this…

"Agghhh… Well, at least I got a nap outta this" remarked Kotoro sleepily, stretching his arms over his head. Max, ever intrigued, couldn't help but ask.

"Out of what?" The other three suddenly elbowing him in the ribs. Regardless of the pain being rained down on him, Max maintained his look of interest.

"Outta this stupid attempt to get his damn CPU to work….. It's made the comp fast, but all it shows is a blue screen o' doom…" Kotoro put his head back into his hands, feeling like he could just retreat from the world, away into his own imagination… where he was flying over darkness and light, with heroes he loved, remembered, adored…..

"Blue screen?" Came a monotone reply form Conner. Kotoro didn't look up, but merely mumbled in response.

"Yeah, it ju-"

"There's no blue screen I can see, Kot." Kotoro, feeling a small lump of anger appear in his stomach, at being suggested a liar by one of his own friends… his friends, he thought…. Brought his head back up, a slight glare appearing on his face.

"Look, who's been here for an h..." At this point, however, he stopped, as his eyes had momentarily flickered to the screen. And he had to admit, at the moment, shock was threatening to overwhelm what little anger he had left.

Where originally a blue screen sat, there was his desktop, now alive with various programs and routines. He wouldn't have been as surprised, if it wasn't for the fact that his MGDS/MUGEN program was open. And while he loved those programs, and usually opened them straight away as soon as he started… he didn't even remember activating this one. That was strange… however, he ignored that feeling, and started to perform his usual diagnostic tests, and various game run-throughs…. He was suddenly in the zone, checking his games character stats, the levels, the world map, bosses, etc….. Heck, he pretty much entered his own world as soon as his fingers hit the keyboard. However, he could still hear the lamentations of his "friends" in the background.

"See? You give Kotoro a computer, and before you know it, he's gone…" he recognised as Conner's voice, the monotone slowly transitioning to a sort of gleeful disgust. Mei was quick to add,

"Hmmm… I don't understand how he see's this as helping himself, you know. He can't make friends like this." As if he felt left out of the friend bashing that was making its way through the group, Max added.

"You never know, he may just be incapable of i..."

"Stop it, you guys" came Kyle's voice, a warning edge arriving with it. Kotoro, though he had heard all of this so far, still had continued to ignore the conversation, and continued his various activities. After all, nearly an hour had been lost, and so much still to do. However, even he perked up as he heard Kyle's voice rise. However, this didn't seem to deter them, instead almost egging on their hateful resolve. This was continued through Max, this time, glee creeping into his voice of mock concern,

"What? I was just worried about what'll happen the next time he interacts with someone-"

"Stop it, Max" came Kyle's voice, dripping with malice.

"And they find that he is utterly…"came Mei's voice, her sound enhanced with slight venom that Kotoro hadn't heard before. Kyle was quick to throw off any shock he had at her weighing in these antics, as his voice maintained its knife edge quality.

"Mei … guys… don't do this… I'm warning y..." Kyle never finished, as what was said next fashioned the mood for some time afterwards.

"Incapable of interacting with a human being. He isn't even human. He's more of a depressing robot. And even then, Marvin the Robot from the Hitchhikers guide is more cheery and sociable then that cretin." Came Conner's voice, his usual uniformity voice wise now interjected with a smug triumph. However, his look faltered, as Kotoro, defying his usual routine during such a mind-numbing argument, turned to see, as he noticed Kyle's expression. Even Max, Mei and Fagan who hadn't even joined in that time, had the look of any enjoyment in the mirthful insult match wiped away, by the now steely, knife stare of Kyle, whose fists were clenched, white, and his whole posture was now rigid, in a defiant pose of anger. The words he spoke escaped his lips in merely a whisper.

"Go. Just…. Go." Conner's face had returned to its emotional mask, while brief looks of "you must be joking," grins, before they quickly disappeared to be replace by open mouths and shocked stares. They stood their, all tense for a moment, before the group, Conner first, then Fagan, and Max, followed lastly by a still shocked Mei, walked out of the door, and were then gone from site. As soon as they left, Kyle receded like a storm dying down to a breeze, and slumped to the table behind him. He sighed.

"Have you ever felt like a day just didn't make ANY… sense…?" Kyle remarked, his voice tired and stretched. Kotoro stared back into his monitor, and while what he saw was a screen, quietly humming away with activity, other images, of crimson moons and nightmares long gone pass in front of his eyes.

"Err… you could say that, yeah…."


	6. INTERLUDE 3: SUBROUTINE

INTERLUDE 3 – SUBROUTINE

/initiate sequence

Routine beginning in 10…9…8…7…6…5…4...3…2…1…

Generating table….

Processing objective 0919396

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Processing objective 0919399

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Processing objective 0919401

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Processing objective 0919404

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Processing objective 0919407

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Processing objective 0919409

Subroutine Graymalkan checks in progress…

Missing figure from row 4

Generating Table….

Processing objective 0919466

Processing objective 0919467

Processing objective 0919468

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Processing objective 0919470

Processing objective 0919471

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Processing objective 0919479

Subroutine Beatrix checks in progress…

Missing figures from rows 7 and 9

Generating Table….

Processing objective 0919503

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Subroutine Islude checks in progress…

Missing figures from rows 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9…

ERROR. DEF FILE NOT FOUND

ANGELI FILE SLAVING CIRCUIT

Routine command override, IPC override…

ALERT IPC IS BEING OVERIDDEN

Are you sure? Y/N

Y

Intaitate new routine? Y/N

Y

Disable warning messages? Y/N

Y

ALL SAFETY LOCKS DISABLED. ENTERING FULL ROUTINE. ENTERING COUNTDOWN PHASE. ENABLE SI ROUTINE.

Beginning countdown:

148:00.00

147:59.59

148:59.58

148:59.57

148:59.56

148:59.55

148:59.54

Initiate Sub-routine? Y/N

Y

Begin Search for Alpha Protocol

Searching…

Search conclusive. One result found. Select? Y/N

Y

Alpha selected. Begin Contact? Y/N

Y

Contact initiating….


End file.
